Computing devices are commonly utilized by users to communicate almost instantaneously with one or more contacts. Such information exchange can occur by an user entering information (e.g., text, visual, audio, and so on) into a display area of a user device and communicating with the one or more contacts in a back-and-forth manner without using a telephone or other method of communication. This almost instantaneous communication allows a user and various contacts in disparate locations to communicate in a real time fashion.
Generally, it is expected that the user remains continuously logged onto a real-time messaging application so that the user can receive presence information about the one or more contacts and can communicate with such contacts. The presence information for the one or more contacts is periodically or continuously received at the user device. During periods when the user is not interested in receiving the contact information, the receipt of contact presence information can increase data usage on the network, which can potentially cause congestion on the network. In addition, a user may be charged for the amount of data transmitted to/from the device and, thus, if contact update information is not needed, money and other valuable resources are wasted. Further, receiving data over the network can increase CPU usage for processing the presence information and can reduce battery life.